What's ironic about the character played by Stockard Channing is that while her character isn't exactly hideous looking, she's also not exactly the type of person one wants to spend excessive time with. She may be the smartest person in her class, but she also tends to make people around her feel just as dumb as they make her feel ugly. But the point of the film is that someone who is drop dead gorgeous yet annoying will still have people willing to be around them. It's more a film expressing issues over hypocrisy than revenge, and that's what makes this unique. Only through the bitter wit of someone like Joan Rivers can this succeed.
Certainly some of the things that her college acquaintances do to her (which includes her female roommate) are cruel beyond justification, especially setting her up for humiliation in the hospital and later in a college play, and by the time she recovers from a bad car accident, it's understandable why she'd want revenge. But this isn't a "Carrie" story or a "Heathers" story. Here, it's both possible to sympathize and dislike Channing's character, and it's only through her witty performance that she succeeds in adding dimensions to the character of Miriam that makes her interesting.
At one point, Channing seems to be imitating both Bette Davis and Maggie Smith at the same time (or maybe sounding like Maggie Smith long before Maggie Smith sounded like what Channing sounds like here), and she had me in stitches. Her revenge against the nasty and dingy Suzanne Zenor is my favorite set-up, with "oops" the perfect response to Zenor's final flight. Cameos by Jim Backus, Joe Flynn and Ed Asner (as the detective investigating the string of murders) are quite amusing. The film is a bit mean spirited, so it's definitely not a masterpiece, but as a cult classic, it's perfection.
Certainly some of the things that her college acquaintances do to her (which includes her female roommate) are cruel beyond justification, especially setting her up for humiliation in the hospital and later in a college play, and by the time she recovers from a bad car accident, it's understandable why she'd want revenge. But this isn't a "Carrie" story or a "Heathers" story. Here, it's both possible to sympathize and dislike Channing's character, and it's only through her witty performance that she succeeds in adding dimensions to the character of Miriam that makes her interesting.
At one point, Channing seems to be imitating both Bette Davis and Maggie Smith at the same time (or maybe sounding like Maggie Smith long before Maggie Smith sounded like what Channing sounds like here), and she had me in stitches. Her revenge against the nasty and dingy Suzanne Zenor is my favorite set-up, with "oops" the perfect response to Zenor's final flight. Cameos by Jim Backus, Joe Flynn and Ed Asner (as the detective investigating the string of murders) are quite amusing. The film is a bit mean spirited, so it's definitely not a masterpiece, but as a cult classic, it's perfection.